The present invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM). In particular, the invention relates to an ATM for offering complex financial services.
When a customer is contemplating a financial service, such as a loan or mortgage, the customer generally obtains an estimate of the cost involved from several different institutions before selecting a service provided by a particular institution. This is because many financial services rely on parameters that change frequently or that vary from institution to institution, for example interest rates; these parameters affect the cost of the service. This means that customers typically make a first visit to each of a plurality of financial institutions to obtain information about a financial service, and then a second visit to a selected one of the financial institutions to request the financial service, that is, to execute the transaction.
ATMs are capable of performing complex financial transactions and offering users complex financial services, such as arranging loans, mortgages, and such like. However, ATM users are reluctant to use these services because of the public environment of most ATMs and because of the time required to complete these complex transactions.